Heavy rains bring Delhi to standstill

August 21, 2009 19:56 IST

Delhi came to a standstill on Friday evening as heavy rains accompanied by winds lashed the city, inundating several low-lying areas and leading to huge traffic jams and collapse of a portion of a terminal building at the Indira Gandhi International airport here.

Parts of Raisina Road right next to Central Secretariat metro station caved in forming 10 m deep crater, but no one was injured in the incident.

Meanwhile, a wall collapse was reported from Paharganj area. The rains, which started at around 3 pm and continued for around two hours, left a trail of misery for commuters with massive traffic snarls across the city stranding people.

In some roads like Parliament Street, traffic jams extended to even 2 km.

The rains brought down temperature from 35 degrees Celsius to 24 degrees with the city recording 74 mm rainfall till 5.30 pm.

Besides, the Met office in Palam recorded 31.8 mm rainfall. Flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Aiport were hit due to the rains and waterlogging, which also led to the collapse of a part of the newly-built domestic departure terminal building (T-1D).

However, there were no reports of any one being injured in the collapse, sources at the airport said.

The visibility at the airport fell less than 100 m due to the rains, and many flights preparing to land were diverted to nearby airports.

"I got stranded at the Parliament Street for more than an hour. The traffic still shows no signs of moving. I am worried about my mother at home," Muthuvel, a senior manager at a private firm, said.

At Raisina Road, the crater which formed as a result of the caving in was around 10 m in depth and six m wide, eyewitnesses said.

Services on the Delhi Metro were not affected due to the rains and the trains were running normally.